. back on the trail. republican presidential hopefuls focus on conservative voters and next week's mississippi and alabama primaries. evidence of torture. video shot inside a syria military hospital appears to show abuse of anti-government activists. and hunting a warlord. millions watch an online video aimed at bringing nn accused war criminal to justice by the end aimed at bringing nn accused war criminal to justice by the end of the year. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, march 8, 2012. good morning everybody. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. we start off with the race for the republican nomination. newt gingrich is rejecting calls

by rick santorum to drop out of the race. both want to go head to head with mitt romney. romney has time and the delegate counts on his side. he has 391 delegates, more than double his closest competitor. tyler suitors is in washington with more. >> kansas, alabama, mississippi. if rick santorum wins all of these three upcoming states and there's a chance he could, by this time next week we could have a two-man race. rick santorum told supporters in jackson, mississippi, next week's primary could be a game changer. >> if we win mississippi, this will be a two-person race. >> santorum is battling with newt gingrich to win over conservative voters and emerge as mitt romney's lone rival. the former pennsylvania senator has consistently split that base with gingrich allowing romney to win in michigan and ohio, key states. santorum is calling short of calling gingrich to drop out of

race. >> if he wants to get out, i'm all for that. >> newt gingrich says that won't happen. >> we're staying in this race because i believe that it's going to be impossible for a moderate to win with the general election. >> but mitt romney is pulling away from his competition. cbs news now estimates he has 391 delegates, more than all of his challengers combined. >> i'm going to get this nomination. >> the former massachusetts governor will campaign in mississippi today and he's about to start airing tv commercials in alabama. newt gingrich and rick santorum have a strong following in the south and will look for voters there to give them some momentum. >> thanks you guys. >> but romney has the organization and the money to stay competitive if the primary battle drags on. his campaign just announced it raising $11.5 million in february. its second best month so far. and so far, mitt romney has won a little more than half of the available delegates.

if that trend holds up, terrell, romney will have earned the republican nomination by sometime in june. >> all right. we'll be watching. tyler suiters in washington. to capitol hill and the calls for u.s. military action in syria. senator john mccain called for u.s. air strikes to stop the syrian crackdown against opposition forces. yesterday defense secretary leon panetta said unilateral action doesn't make sense right now. >> before i recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in harm's way, i've got to make very sure that we know what the mission is. i've got to make very sure that we know whether we can achieve that mission, at what price, and whether or not it will make matters better or worse. general martin dempsey told the committee the president ordered a preliminary review of military options. the united nations humanitarian aid chief visited the city of homs.

it's been battered by syrian forces for over a month. one said the city was devastated. clarissa ward visited a hospital said to include torture centers. >> this is the regime's military hospital in homs. this video was shot secretly by a member of the hospital staff. this ward men are blindfolded and shackled to their beds. the chains are extremely tight. this man's chest and hands show what appear to be wound from severe beating. instruments of torture lie on a nearby table, a cable and a whip. the hospital staffer who risked his life to capture this footage said he's seen doctors assault opposition activists. i've seen detain krees being whipped and beaten with bats. by breaking their legs, they twist the feet until the leg breaks. this is not the first account of allegations of torture in syria's state-run hospitals.

this week the u.n. said it received similar videos. this is a doctor from the city of homs who recently came to lebanon after being injured in a rocket attack while treating opposition forces in a makeshift clinic. he told us about one patient who he tried to evacuate. the convoy was stopped by syrian army soldiers and the wounded man was taken to a military hospital. two days later, they called his family and told him to pick up his body. his body was burned and had holes from nails in it. most people were injured in the fighting go to field hospitals like this one. we visited last month. medical supplies are limited and the conditions are basic. but the alternative military hospitals can be a death sentence. clarissa ward, cbs news, beirut. the associated press reports iran may be trying to clean up evidence of tests on a device used to trigger a nuclear weapon. satellite images of iran's

nuclear site appears to show trucks that could cart off can tomorrow nated soil. the iranians may be trying to clean up radioactivity produced by that test. in this country, women in virginia seeking abortions now must have ultrasounds. governor bob mcdonnell signed the bill into law yesterday. the bill originally mandated an invasive sonogram. that caused an uproar and it was dropped. women must be offered a chance to see the i am annals but can't be forced to see them. there's a new report on the growing cost of caring for the nearly five million americans living with alzheimer's disease in this country. the alzheimer's association says alzheimer's and dementia will cost the u.s. $200 billion this year, 140 billion will be covered by medicare and medicaid. one out of seven alzheimer's patients live alone. coming up on the morning news on a thursday morning shall the viral video aimed at bringing a warlord to justice.

plus, we'll show you all the upgrades for the new upgrade. first scott pelley with a preview of the evening news. we're going to take you to a city that was virtually swept away by the tsunami. one year later, we'll visit a man who has lost so much and tell you how the japanese people are recovering. that story tonight on the "cbs evening news." maybe you can be there; maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com

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that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. if you haven't heard, apple unveiled its latest verse of the ipad yesterday. is has some serious tweaks, faster processor, high res camera and retina display. make you blink fast. bigad shaban takes a look. >> apple calls it the new ipad. the third generation of the company's wildly popular tablet computer. >> everyone has been wondering who will come out with a product that's more amazing than the ipad 2.

well, stop wondering. we are. >> this news version has a sharper, higher resolution screen, 3.1 million pixels worth. it weighs just under 1.5 pounds, comes in black and white and has a faster processor than the ipad 2. it has a more advanced five mega pickle camera and operates on the powerful 4g network. the price start at $499. unveiling the new product, ceo tim cook, stuck closely to the trademark style of apple founder steve jobs, who died last year. pacing the stage in a casual button-down. he talked about the tablet revolution. >> we think the ipad is the poster child of the post pc world. >> as with all apple announcements this one drew a giant crowd of media from around the world. apple created the tablet market, but the competition is scrambling to catch up, introducing 100 different tablets in the past year. >> people have been buying the

alternatives that have been inexpensi inexpensive. hopefully apple can recapture their enthusiasm. >> it goes on sale march 16th and you can bet apple fans will be waiting at the door. bigad shaban, cbs news, san francisco. >> one thing it doesn't have is the voice ak at this vaited personal assistant available in the iphone. it can do everything else. i don't know why that matters. so what did the ipad's unveiling mean to stock price. jennifer lewis hall is here in new york with that. jennifer, good morning. >> good morning. overseas markets first were lifted by upbeat news about greece's bailout. the nikkei snapped a three-day losing streak and gained 2%. hong kong's hang seng rose 1.5%. today the government releases the february unemployment report. yesterday a positive preview of the data triggered a rally on wall street. the dow bounced back from a triple-digit loss on tuesday to gain 78 points, the nasdaq added

25. the unveiling of the new ipad didn't give apple stock much of a jolt. shares rose about half a point on wednesday. apple could find itself in some legal trouble as well. according to the wall street journal, the justice department is planning to sue apple and five publishing companies for allegedly colluding to raise e-book prices. the case alleges that as apple prepared to launch the first ipad it was working with publishers to change the way they charge for ee books. one of the publishers in danger of being sued is simon and schuster, owned by cbs corporation sfwliefrnlt the treasury department will begin to sell off $6 billion worth of shares of aig. the insurance company received the biggest bailout payment of the 2008 financial crisis. the government still holds more than $41 billion of aig stock. the company will buy back as much as $3 billion worth of the stock being sold. chrysler's ceo said no thanks it a paycheck for his

work in 2011. certainly yoe mark yoen i declined to take a salary, boep us or stock option. chrysler had the first profitable year since 1997. the company did not say why he refused payment. jennifer lewis hall. >> a lot to say there. you can refuse payment, you're a wealthy guy. >> thank you so much. the campaign to stop a brutal african warlord has gone viral. a group unleashed a video that has gotten over 15 million hits on you-tube. it's among the top ten trending terms on twitter. it hoped to end joseph cone i's rein of terror. for decades his resistance army killed and maimed thousands of africans and abducted thousands of children forcing them to become soldiers or sex slaves. in october, president obama sent

troops to uganda to help them capture -- >> we'll have your weather forecast. in sports, peyton manning a colt no more. the four-time nfl mvp is released by the team that drafted him 14 years ago. his tearful press conference when the morning news returns. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment.

thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $5.15, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. here's a look at the weather. ? new york, past skies, 69 degrees. morning rain, 46 in chicago.

morning thunderstorms, 68 in dallas. mostly sunny in los angeles, 78 degrees. check of your national forecast. rain and thunderstorms soak part of the southern plains. some areas could get as achs 3 inches. taste of spring in new england. expect heavy downpours along the ohio river. santa ana winds blowing in california. some in excess of 40 miles per hour. in sport, it's the moments colts fans dreaded for months. they've cut all pro quarterback peyton manning. they sent him packing the day before having to pay out a $28 million bonus. the only four-time nfl mvp in history -- he spent 14 years with the colts, got a super bowl ring and says he loved every minute of it. >> i haven't thought yet about where i'll play. but i have thought a lot about where i've been. and i've truly been blessed, i've been blessed to play here.

i've been blessed to be in the nfl. >> got to believe a lot of teams are very interested in manning. he still wants to play. but it all comes down to whether he can pass the physical. >> yukon still on the hunt for a second big east title. against west virginia, jeremy lin hits a big three to give them a lead. 71-67. this is the 13th straight post-season win for the huskies. in pre-season baseball, japanese superstar pitcher made an impressive debut for the texas rangers. 25-year-old right-hander struck out three in two scoreless innings against the padres. the rangers paid $107 million to pry the ace away from the japanese league. when we come back, what's behind the warm weather and beware the solar flare. a massive solar storm is headed to earth today and it could cause chaos with the satellites and power grids. two covergirls. that's right. get two miracles in one product. othe satellites

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here's a look at the weather in some cities. d.c., partly sunny, 72 degrees. partly sunny, 71 in atlanta. morning rain, 53 in detroit. cloudy, 39 in denver and mostly sunny, 54 in seattle. just a little more than a week left in winter, but already the national oceanic and atmospheric administration announced this was one of the warmest winters on record in the u.s. temperatures are on the rise from the rocky mountains to the east coast. in fact, next week's temperatures could even set new records. forget spring, it feels more like summer in grapevine, texas. this time of year, the average temperature is around 60 degrees. today, it will be nearly 80. across the u.s., many are frolicking in this mild snowless winter, the warmest in nearly a decade and the fourth warmest on

record. but meteorologists warm this weather comes at a price. last week's tornado outbreak in the midwest and south was fueled by unusually warm, moist air clashing with a seasonal cold front. in fact, on the deadliest day, record highs were set in seven states. >> grade a medium, grade b. >> for paul bollinger, this will cost him $10,000. he collects sap from trees in andover, massachusetts and makes it into maple syrup. >> the trees need that winter to recover to convert it to carbohydrates to sugars. it never got that opportunity. >> it's not just people who come out early and late winter warmth. this year there are concerns of a boom in the tick population. >> this isn't normal stuff we're having. this is an odd winter we've had. >> so where did our winter go? meteorologists say europe got it. they got the deepest frez in decades. killing more than 400 people. the warm weather continues

in new york, washington and chicago. they'll see 15 degrees above normal next week. the biggest solar storm in five years will begin hitting earth this morning. scientists say the sun erupted on tuesday. super charged particles will travel at more than 4 million miles an hour when they slam into the earth. gps services and airline flights could be disrupted, especially in northern areas. the solar storm is expected to last through tomorrow morning. and earth isn't the only planet with twisters. this is a picture of a towering dust devil on mars. it was taken last month by nasa's mars orbiter. it's more than half a mile high and about 90 feet in diameter. in southeast australia, some 9,000 flood victims are slowly returning home. floodwaters peaked at more than 34 feet yesterday. the area has been declared a disaster zone. record rainfall is blamed for the worst flooding in the region in more than 160 years. coming up after your local

news, how the unusually warm winter might mean a boost for our economy. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news." okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is thursday, march 8. i'm andrea roane. you're not going to need a jacket today. ismi'm mike hydeck.

spring feels like it's here. good morning. monika santami. howard bernstein, all yours. it's going to be warm. the solar storm, we had a guy from space weather came over based out of boulder, colorado. they were talking about how this could interrupt not just the gps but communications. >> your cell phone and things like that? >> communications for the airplanes so they're not going to take the polar routes. even radiation levels could be high enough they don't want to fly there for the safety of the crew and the passengers. but that's at the polar level, not here. we have good radiation in the form of sunshine. going to warm us up into the low 70s. noontime temps in the mid-60s. one thing today, the winds were a little breezy yesterday. tomorrow they're going to be gusting over 30 miles an hour today. so a windy day with those gusts

30 to 35. showing you the big, wide, satellite and radar. you can see this coming through chicago approaching detroit. those are the showers ahead of a cold front. timing wise i expect most of the rain we're going to see to happen at night. tonight into the overnight period. temperatures this morning have dipped into the 40s out to our west in cumberland and oakland. but look, everybody else pretty much in the low to mid-50s. 57 on the bay and annapolis. our highs today are going to be into the low 70s out there. some spots staying in the upper 60s. that's about 15 above average. monika, over to you. if you're planning to head outside, feeling good. no problems on the roadways this morning with the exception of one spot and that's on 295 at mall cal him x -- malcolm x boulevard. be aware of that if you're planning to head on to 295 inside the beltway. 395 looks fine. a live look on the northbound side is nice and light at duke street right up to the 14th

street bridge. no problems to report. back over to the maps this time the north side of town. we're looking great between college park and bethesda and all the major thoroughfares in between are clear. 275 at shady grove live nice and light. my next report we'll focus on virginia at 4:39. suspicious packages containing white powder were mailed to three different locations around the district yesterday. the powder wasn't harmful but did raise fears of another anthrax attack. >> the willard hotel, a business on f street and an ale meantry school -- an elementary school all received the packages. the f.b.i. is trying to determine if the mailings are connected to ones earlier this year. >> reporter: it looked like elementary schoolchildren were the target. the adams campus ever the oyster -- of the oyster adams bilingual school was evacuated. authorities told 9news now

initial field tests show the powder was not dangerous. letters were also received at the willard hotel and nearby business on f street again initial tests showed no danger. >> it's very hard to caf the perpetrator. >> reporter: that's the hard part says the author of "the mirage man" a study of the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five. >> i think it's a cheap and anonymous way for someone to try and make a point or to grind an ax. they can bring a building to a halt. they can have it evacuated. they can in their way punish an institution. >> reporter: this week most of the institutions have been schools. this one in newington, connecticut was one of two evacuated in that state wednesday. similar story in clinton, massachusetts at this elementary school. found a postmark there from